ITG xpPhone 2 puts Windows 8 in your pocket

ITG, maker of the xpPhone - putting Windows XP into a smartphone-scale chassis - has returned with the successor, the xpPhone 2, and thanks to Windows 8's new Metro homescreen it looks a whole lot more usable. Fronted by a 4.3-inch display and measuring 140 x 73 x 17.5 mm, the xpPhone 2 is expected to go on sale in 2012, running a full desktop OS rather than something mobile-focused like Windows Phone or Android.

According to ITG, the xpPhone 2 will have a 1.6GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and up to 112GB of storage, and be capable of up to a whopping 18.5hrs of talktime on a single charge. No other specs have been confirmed - nor what exact processor ITG is using, though we're guessing an Intel Atom chip - and unlike the original xpPhone there's nothing showing a slide-out physical keyboard.

Smartphone sized PCs have struggled to find a place in the market to-date, not least because Intel's processors have invariably had difficulty keeping up with more frugal ARM chips when it comes to power efficiency. Then there's the problems implicit in dealing with a UI intended for sizable displays on something that will fit in your pocket.

Windows 8's new interface - similar to that of Windows Phone - will definitely help on that front, though it's unclear why ITG isn't planning to use Microsoft's Windows 8 on ARM build instead. Still, plenty of time for all that to change as ITG beavers away to turn the xpPhone 2 renders into reality.